Antifriction hand-support.



0. C. KNIFE.

ANTIFRICTION HAND SUPPORT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I7. 1914.

1,154,188. Patentedsept. 21, 1915.

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OLIVER C. KNIFE, OF PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA.

ANTIFRICTION HAND-SUPPORT.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

Application filed .Tune 17, 1914. Serial No. 845,718.

To all Lo/1,0m t may concern Be it known that I, OLIVER C. KNIFE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Palo Alto, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Antifriction Hand- Supports, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to means for pro meting the ease and comfort of writing, the object being to prevent cramping the hand and to permit easy gliding thereof over the writing surface; or in a more general sense to permit any moving part to have universal motion on a given plane without friction.

In carrying out my invention I provide a ring to be Worn on a finger of the opera-tor in which is seated a ball so as to bear on the writing surface or other plane surface and so mounted as to move antifrictionally Within limits on its seat and thus permit the hand to be supported glidingly on the paper.

The severalA features of novelty will be hereinafter more fully described, and will be indicated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure l shows in side elevation and part section a ring embodying my invention; Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the device of Fig. l; Figs. 2 and t are modifications shown on a larger scale in which the glider is mounted free to turn on a pivot; Fig. 5 shows a type adapted to heavier duty, as for planchettes or casters or other use requiring universal freedom of motion.

In the drawings, referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, l represents a cup slotted on the outer face in which is caged loosely a steel or other spherical ball, l, the cup being securely attached to a curved base or setting 2 on which the ball is supported. A ring 3 adapted to tit a finger of the hand is soldered or otherwise secured to the base-plate, and the cup is crimped or otherwise secured to the same. I preferably form the ring of gold-plated wire of comparatively small section, so that it may yield or be made to expand readily to iit different hands.

In the face of the cup'I form an elongated opening or slot 5 through which the ball projects. It will be evident that the Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the ball being of greater diameter than the width of the slot, and the slot being of greater length than the ball diameter, the ball will be permanently caged in the slot, so that when the ring is worn when writing is done the ball will be free to rock back and forth in the slot, and roll on the plate support to permit the hand to glide over the paper without friction.

In Figs. 2 and L the constructionis modified; the ball is seated in a slot in a plate l1 secured by a tubular rivet 7 to a plate 21, and the plate swiveled on a. stud 6 attached to the ring 31. In this case the ball will have greater freedom of motion, as it has a universal support for motion in any direction on a plane surface. In Fig. 5 the ball is supported similarly to Fig. l but is mounted on a board or other device to permit universal motion. This form of mounting is adapted for use on planchettes or movable apparatus of any kind where easy sliding motion is necessary, as for example in casters.

The cramped position of the hand and the movement over a writing surface is a source of great fatigue where much hand writing is required. My invention fully relieves this fatigue,vas the hand and arm glide without resistance over the writing surface.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

l. A ball bearing writing device comprising a ring to be worn on a finger of the hand, a slotted ball cup secured thereto, the slot being longer than and less in width than the 'ball diameter and in a line with the axis of the ring, and a ball in the slot projecting therethrough to engage a writing surface.

2. A ball bearing ring for easing writing,

"comprising a ring to be worn on a finger,

and a plate secured thereto by a swivel joint carrying at a point eccentric to the axis of the joint a single ball free to rotate and caged in the plate.

OLIVER C. KNIFE. Witnesses:

RoBT. H. READ, E. B. MCBATH.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G'. 

